Mark Hansen Music - LDS Rock Music - Free Downloads

WARNING: Listening to this music doesn't require parental approval. It's a bit of clean rebellion. It keeps your outlook up and your hope alive. It's got strong drums and screaming guitars. It pumps you up and drives your life. It's a hunger for exploration. It chooses the right and returns with honor. It's music you don't have to confess to your bishop.

It's not your parents' "Saturday’s Warrior".

It's "A Joyful Noise"

Sunday, October 31, 2004

I started working on a new one tonight. Actually, it's a very, very old one, that I wrote when I was still living in Indiana. The lyrics on the verse are spoken in rhythm, and the choruses are sung. It's not really a rap vibe, though. Too bluesy.

But it's also way too long. Almost seven minutes. Yeesh.

Oh, well. I busted it out primarily as a vehicle to get familiar with Cubase SX v3. It's a fun program, but there are definite differences between v1 and 3.

And speaking of the new version, I did figure out how to make the old songs play. I have to go into each song and do two things: 1--set up a stereo output bus, and 2--route all the tracks through that bus. It'll be a bit time consuming, but then I'll be able to move all my work over to the new version.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

I got the new version of Cubase installed. It's fun to play with, and I got it all working. But when I open up a song made with the old version, I can't get it to play back the old tracks.

Fortunately, the good folks at Steinberg did a wonderful thing. They set it up so that when you install the newer version, it goes into a new directory, rather than installing on top of the old version. That way, I can still do the old songs in the old version. I'm safe. I don't want to screw things up on my CD when I'm this close to being done!

I'm sure I'll figure out how to do it before too long, anyway. It's just nice to know that the old stuff isn't screwed up.

It's kinda interesting, though. I only played in version 3 for a few minutes, cut a short little guitar riff and then a bass line. But when I opened up v1 to make sure it still worked, it looked, I don't know, OLD. Isn't that weird? I've been using SX v1 for about 2 years, now. TWO YEARS. And in just a few minutes, it looks old.

Funny how things play with your perceptions.

The riff I recorded was kinda cool, too. I don't know if I'll make a full song out of it, though. It's kind of a simplistic little three chord classic rock ditty. It's got a slow lope to it that's really cool. Still...

But, the one good thing that did happen yesterday was that I got in to the studio and I cut some guitars for "Turn it up". I had been thinking about that tune, and pondering it. It occurred to me to shift the key so that I could sing it more easily. Sometimes, I'm singing really high, and if I shift the key up far enough, I can actually jump the vocals down into a more reasonable octave. Sometimes, however, the guitar riff that the song is based on is difficult or even impossible to play in another key. That's why so many guitar songs are in A or E.

Anyway, I thought about that, and I tried it in Bb (that's "B flat"). Why Bb? Well, that's a bit of a nod to John. The poor guy always has to play the trumpet in these guitar keys. See, every instrument has keys that are very easy to play in. A and E, the easy guitar keys, are some of the hardest for trumpet. Bb, very easy for trumpet, is usually very difficult for guitar.

But this song works in Bb, so I cut the guitars that way. And that gave my morning a big boost.

It'll be a fun tune, and would make a good title song for the next CD.

Oh! One other cool thing that happened yesterday: I got my copy of Cubase SX version 3! I installed it this morning, but I couldn't update my copy protection right away. My music computer isn't hooked up to the net, and you have to be to update the copy protection, so I'll have to do that tonight. Then I can try it all out!

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I've been in Orlando, Florida for the weekend. I'd like to say it was fun, but I was working the whole time. Diego, mi amigo from the office, was also there, in fact, we shared the hotel.

Last night we were up until about 2:30 or so, spinning the tunes I've been working on for "Generation" and talking about ideas for Flash animations. Diego is an incredible graphic designer, with a very creative mind.

There were three songs that grabbed his interest, visually speaking. The one we're going to start with is "Pharisee". He's got some cool ideas of animating my face like a robot.

We also got very excited about ideas for "Toy Soldiers". It opens the song up for broader interpretations

Then there's "He's Out There". That one would involve shooting a bunch of stills with some kids like Jordan and his girlfriend. Very fun.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Well, this is exciting. John came over and cut some horn parts for "Out of the Chapel". It was pretty interesting.

I'm excited about it, because that means that all that's left on the album is to recut lead vocals on the three remaining songs and mix them. That's it. That's kind of a cool milestone to pass.

John was saying, too, just how challenging these horn parts have been for him. Some of them get really high, and it's tough to play that way. He said that cutting the tracks for this CD has really stretched him as a player. Which is cool. It's certainly stretched me as a singer as well. And as a person, to just drive to home and get the songs done. A very growing experience all around.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Not much actual work goin' on this weekend, but I've been having some fun anyway.

This next weekend, I'm going to Orlando for a symposium for my work. In the process, I've been working with CS Bezas, of latterdayauthors.com, to set up a house concert. I am soooooo stoked at the possibility!

I started working on the tabs for "Millstones", too. It's both simpler and more complicated than the others. But it's fun, anyway.

And last night, Jodi and I went on our weekly date to see Cheri Magill and Maren Ord at the Provo Arts Center. Great show, and it was nice to see Maren again. She was the headliner for the LDSM Fest IV, in 2003. The show was plagued with bad sound, but her performance was great, anyway. She really is a solid, solid performer.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Well, It looks like there's still work to be done on Millstones. When I got to work and played it on my computer here, the vocals were way buried. And since a lot of my audience (you kind folks) will be downloading and listening on your computers, I need to fix that.

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Lots happened today. The night time, especially. The gig tonight was one of the best EVER!

But I'll lead up to it.

First, last night, and this morning, I was stressing trying to get everything ready for this gig. I was really excited about it. It was for a youth conference, hosted by a local LDS private school. They also publish a homeschooling curriculum, and so there were a lot of those students from all over at the conference, too. It's a big week long affair, and I got to be the speaker/performer that opened it up.

So, I'm trying to get everything ready, because I'm going there straight from work. I realize that I'd left some key gear at Morey's when we got together for the Project's practice. So, I'd have to borrow or improvise.

This morning, in a few spare moments, I tweaked the Millstones mix. I like it a lot better, now. It might well be the mix I run with.

Then, at work, I played Diego the roughs of his song, and he was very excited. That was really good, because I wasn't too confident in the direction I was going with it. But now, renewed, I can tackle it again.

So, after work, I head out to the gig, I stopped at Connie and John Roberts' to pick up some things, borrowed, to use instead of the thigns I had left at Morey's, and went on out to Aspen Grove to the conference.

When I got there and started to set up, I paniced. I couldn't believe how idiotic I'd been! I'd forgotten the mixer for the PA! I'd brought speakers, mic's, everything. No mixer!

AAAAARRRGH.

My first thought was that I could do the gig unplugged with just my acoustic guitar. That would work, but it wouldn't be as much fun. I saw that there was a house system built into the room where the conference was, with speakers in the ceiling. I checked and I could run one side of my CD player into the system, and feed in the mics as well. It was boomy in a major way, and there was no EQ AT ALL.

But, the show must go on, right?

And it did, and the kids LOVED it. I could tell from the opening chords of "Here in Me" that they were into it. They spontaneously burst into clapping along several times through the set.

The hour-long "show" was really more of a fireside, because I did a lot of speaking as well. I talked about how there's really six conditions for listening:

Songs by members of the church, that touch me and bear testimony to my soul.

We talked about our favorite bands and how they fit into this picture.

Then I played a few acoustic songs, talked some more and ended with "Thank You", and "I Hear the Voices Singing".

Then, I was amazed. They started cheering, and it just swelled. There were about 200 kids and staff there, and the noise just was overwhelming. Then a lot of them stood up, still cheering!

As some of you who've been reading my blogs know, this has been a challenging spring and summer. I've wondered at times what I was doing and why I was doing it. I'll tell ya, that show was a real boost and I've really needed that.

And afterward, they rushed the table to get my pass-it-on CD's and ask for autographs. I was overwhelmed with the whole spirit of the day. So many things had stressed me out preparing for this gig, and in the end I learned it was the songs and the message that were the important part. Not the gear or the performance (frankly, I've performed better--I've also done much worse). But it was the message and the fun that touched the kids!

So, I've been very blessed tonight. I hope I get to do it again next year!

Friday, October 01, 2004

Another jam session with the Project boys last night. A lot of fun. We tried to go through "Booka Mo", but most of us had forgotten how to play it, and we only had one copy of the lead sheet... So, we kidna muddled through it. Same with "Desert Flower".

I presented "Bats in my Belfry" to everyone and we had a great time running through that a few times. It's very difficult to play on the bass. It really wears my hands out. But it sounded pretty good by the end of the night. Nowhere near ready to perform, but still not bad.

Then, afterward, we read through an arrangement that John had done at Morey's request of a melody and theme from the "Gettysburg" movie. It sounds really cool, and with some development it'll be fun to play. We're thinking it would be a good one to start a show with.

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This is where to come if you want to find good music. Download LDS music that rocks without being foul, drives without being sleazy. LDS music that deals with living the gospel in a troubled world, without preaching or condescending. This is music that speaks to the Mormon youth and the young at heart with a driving beat and a rock energy that motivates.

If you're a Mormon youth leader (YM, AP or YW), and you are planning a combined activity night or a weekend youth conference, Mark's performances provide the excitement of a rock concert with the message of living the Gospel.